Kia Finance America is offering some of its electric vehicle lessees up to $9,900 off the purchase price to buy out their expiring leases. The short-term “Keep Your Kia” program, running in late June 2026, targets EV6, EV9, and Niro EV leases maturing that month. Discounts range from roughly $2,800 to the full $9,900 depending on model, trim, and original term. Customers receive direct emails and must complete the buyout through their originating dealer, who pockets a flat $300 fee.
This isn’t random generosity. It’s a calculated move to protect the company from massive losses on vehicles whose actual market values have cratered far below the residuals baked into the original lease contracts.
Lease payments are driven largely by depreciation—the difference between the capitalized cost and the residual value (the projected worth at lease end). To advertise ultra-low monthly payments and accelerate EV adoption, manufacturers like Kia set aggressive, inflated residuals. A higher residual shrinks the depreciation amount the customer pays for, producing eye-catching lease deals. The assumption was that the vehicles would hold strong value.
Reality has been brutal. Electric vehicles are depreciating significantly faster than gasoline-powered cars. Industry data shows EVs losing an average of nearly 59% of original MSRP over five years, compared to around 45% for traditional ICE vehicles. Early analyses peg monthly depreciation for EVs at roughly 1.16% versus 0.87% for gas cars.
Several forces have accelerated the drop: rapid improvements in battery range and technology making older models feel obsolete, falling prices on new EVs (partly from incentives and competition), oversupply in the used market, and shifting consumer sentiment. When these leased EVs return, the finance arms face a painful gap—the contractual residual minus the much lower auction or wholesale value, plus reconditioning and remarketing costs.
By offering substantial buyout discounts, Kia effectively lowers the price customers pay to keep the car, making retention more attractive than turning it in. If the vehicle stays with the original lessee (or is financed through Kia channels), the manufacturer avoids flooding auctions with cars that would publicly confirm how badly residuals were overstated. Fewer visible low-value transactions help protect residual assumptions across the broader portfolio.
Kia isn’t alone in feeling the pressure. The broader EV leasing boom of 2022–2024 produced a wave of maturing three-year leases in 2025–2026, and many manufacturers are grappling with softer-than-expected used EV values. While Kia’s targeted cash incentive stands out as particularly aggressive, the underlying issue—overly optimistic residuals colliding with real-world depreciation—is industry-wide.
The strategy makes financial sense for the captive finance company: pay the customer a few thousand dollars now to sidestep a potentially larger loss later. For lessees, it creates a rare opportunity to own the car for less than the original residual.
If you had one of these Kia EV leases ending right now, would you take the bonus and buy it out—or hand back the keys and say good luck at auction?